The House of Hades
by bcpop
Summary: Percy and Annabeth fall into Tartarus, the Romans march on Camp Half Blood, and the other five of the prophecy, along with Nico, son of Hades, must reach Eprius, Greece, to save the friends. Will they succed? Who are the new mysterious caped figures? The stakes are higher then ever in book four.


Darkness. Never before had I encountered such darkness. Now some people out there might think they know darkness, but trust me, you don't. The darkness was so thick, so heavy, that I couldn't see my finger if it was a micrometre from my eye. Eye's opened or closed, it made no difference.

Maybe I should explain how I got here. It all started when the alien, (sorry, goddess) Hera, or Juno, take your pick, she was equally annoying in Greek or Roman form, abducted me, and chucked me across the country. AND, if that wasn't enough she stole my memories. The nerve!

When I woke up I found my way to the Roman camp, Camp Jupiter, and embarked on an epic death quest to release the god of death in Alaska. When Frank, Hazel and I returned to camp we fought and defeated a giant's army attacking the camp, and the romans raised me on their shields as praetor.

Then the next day, my old friends from camp half-blood came in a flying dragon-headed warship and it seemed we had made peace in order to defeat Gaea and her Giants. Then Leo destroyed half of new Rome, causing the Romans to go berserk, and we fled to Rome, while meeting Bacchus, Phocrys, Keto, Hercules, Chyrasor and fought a skolependra, before arriving in Rome. After escaping the romans went off to attack camp half-blood (good luck with that,) and we saved Nico di Angelo, though the twin giants Ephilates and Otis, and Annabeth went on a solo quest to find the Athena Parthenos. We rescued her next to a pit after she tricked Arachne into weaving her own trap, and after Arachne fell into a pit. Then Annabeth was dragged into the pit and I dove after her. Darn that dam spider, some of the silk from her trap was attached to Annabeth's ankle.

I managed to grab Annabeth and a ledge a couple feet down the pit, and shouted at Nico to meet us on the other side, then I let go and fell hand in hand with Annabeth. Unfortunately, that pit led to Tartarus, the place Nico had been dragged into and barely survived. The pit of evil. The place where all monsters went when they died. The place where several thousand monsters would scream bloody murder and try to take revenge on me for killing them. (That's Annabeth shouting at me to get on with the story)

Not that I'm bitter or anything. Do I regret my choice? No. I'd follow Annabeth anywhere to keep her safe, even the depths of Tartarus. (Ha, ha, didn't catch the pun.)

So yeah, back to the story. I clung desperately to Annabeth. Nothing would ever separate us again. I had long ago pulled Annabeth against my body for warmth and comfort. (Yes for both of us Annabeth, mainly you but, I'm a compassionate boyfriend who puts your needs first. {That's my foot!})

Annabeth's head rested against my shoulder and I rested my head in her hair. Her hair smelled like lemon soap, and I stroked her hair while Annabeth slept.

One thing I noticed as we fell was that it was definitely getting colder. It had probably dropped at least 10 degrees since we started falling which seemed like hours ago. I had long ago lost the queasiness in my stomach, and the roar of wind that had been in my ears was now a quite breeze.

If that wasn't enough there was also a strange gravity pulling at my feet, as if the pit was breathing in and intentionally trying to drag me to the bottom. It was definitely getting faster as we fell further and further into the pit.

My eye's started to glaze over. I knew I should try to stay awake but I was so tired. Within another minute I was sound asleep.

Of course dreams found me. Demigod dreams suck. Mystical omens, horrible nightmares, sneak peeks at our death and a million other things we didn't want to know interrupted our time of peace. It was no different this time.

I stood in a room with a polished bronze floor and Obsidian walls and a stalactite roof. A red carpet lined the room all the way to the end, which I couldn't see because of the thick mist in the room. For some reason I felt a strange desire to walk down the red Carpet. . As I walked down a Throne appeared, and it wasn't empty. Unfortunately, I recognized it, and one of my least favourite God's sat in it. Along with a familiar looking…friend.

"Hades." I growled.

"Percy Jackson, as much as I'd like to kill you, I can't."

"Umm…thanks."

"Unfortunately, I owe you a debt of gratitude for releasing Thanatos, and saving my son Nico. I know of your journey to Tartarus, and I decided to give you a gift."

"Yeah, what do you have that I want?" I snapped at the God. I know, I know it was rude, even after he saved the day in the Titan war last summer, but I still couldn't stand him. To my surprise Hades and Thanatos laughed.

"Something that could prove very useful Jackson." Thanatos replied. "To fully close the doors, well…it will have dire consequences, sacrifice…to say the least."

Gods and their stupid riddles. Can't they speak ion English for once? Apparently not. Thanatos must have seen my annoyed look, because a bear trace of a smile showed on his face.

"Your friend the shape shifter is the only one who can close the doors permanently."

"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean?"

Hades growled. "Our time is limited boy, we have minutes before you're too far in for even us to communicate with you." I balled my fists and took a deep breath.

Thanatos continued. "You will feel pain greater than anything you've ever experienced, and loss like nothing you can comprehend. Find the councillium, only they can help you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Nothing is of any value unless it is earned by yourself." As annoying as that was, I knew it was true, and it sounded eerily close to what Athena had once told me years ago.

This time, hades spoke. "For the good of Olympus, you need certain measurements to stay sane in Tartarus." Hades procured two balls of shadow in his hand. One he threw at me which hit me chest and sunk into my chest. I staggered backwards.

"What the hell was that for?"

Hades interrupted me. "I have given you and the daughter of Athena our combined blessings. Use it well."

I was shocked. I couldn't believe Hades would do something so nice for me. "Thanks…Lord Hades" I managed to force out of my mouth.

"This will not only keep you sane, but gives you certain ability's over death and shadow travel…I'm sure you'll figure it out." I was to shocked to say or do anything.

The dream started to thin around the edges and hades and Thanatos started to fade.

"Seek Valithor, only he can turn the tide. You have three months to learn."

The scene shifted and I was in a cavern so big I couldn't see the end or the top, even with the harsh light filling the area. But that wasn't the scary part. The scary thing was the Gigantic earthen lady sitting in a throne. She was huge, a couple hundred meters tall easily, nearly as big as typhoon. As I watched she continued to grow larger and her laughing filled the cavern.

"How will you win little hero" Gaea bent down and when I saw her face, I nearly fainted. Her eye's had begun to open.


End file.
